


Missteps and Close-calls

by EveryDayArtist



Series: Phone Call of Destiny and Other Adventures [4]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Gen, Hospital, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Sad Backstory, Slight Hurt/Comfort, Zoro and Sanji are idiots, boys and emotions, small appearances of other characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-09
Updated: 2016-03-09
Packaged: 2018-05-25 19:17:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6207223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EveryDayArtist/pseuds/EveryDayArtist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zoro talks when it counts, Sanji doesn't handle emotions well and Kuina would have smacked them both.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Missteps and Close-calls

Zoro was not awake enough for this crap.

He liked Vivi a lot, and her boyfriend was pretty cool as well, but Vivi and Sanji mixed together was a trial. She was one of the unique girls at their high school who not only wasn’t annoyed by the blonde, but who had earned his trust to the point where he could drop the flirting routine in favor of a sort of doting camaraderie. Which meant the annoying chirping but with a heavy dose of sarcastic asshole thrown in. It drove him mad. 

So they fought as usual. 

“Say that again!” The blonde yelped, glaring up at him as they trooped up the stairs. Zoro snorted and turned to grin at him.

“Dumbass.”

“Mosshead!” 

Vivi giggled from where she was climbing with an arm around her boyfriend, Kohza. Zoro grinned wolfishly, winking.

Sanji took a few more steps, fighting down a twinge in his stomach. “You’re an ass, I hate you. Vivi, don’t listen to a word this idiot--” His foot caught on one of the stairs, his other slipped and he pitched backwards.

Vivi shrieked as Sanji fell, slamming his head into the wall before tumbling down the steps to crash to the ground at the bottom; the fall hadn’t seemed that bad but the sound of pain that ripped out of his throat as he landed made her start forward only to be beaten to the punch.

Zoro had descended the stairs and fallen to his knees next to the other boy’s side so fast that she’d been taken aback. The normally calm teen was calling Sanji’s name frantically while Kohza whipped out his phone and dialed for 911 and he refused to budge even after he’d checked the blonde’s pulse. 

“Wake up.” She could hear him whispering, voice wavering slightly.  “Don’t you dare, come on, I can’t-” He made a strangled sound and Vivi reacted without thought, leaning over to hug him; it was the most contact she’d had with the boy for as long as she’d known him and she was surprised at how warm and firm his body was as he repeated his pleading over and over again. “Wake up you asshole, I can’t do this again. It’s not fair.”

~*~

Sanji moaned quietly, blinking a few times and trying to fight through the pounding pain in his head as the bleak walls of a hospital room came into focus around him. He shifted, quickly deciding that was a bad idea, and moaned again.

“S‘bout time you woke up, brat.”

“...Old man?” The blonde stared blearily up at his guardian, taking in the disgruntled look that nearly hid his concern. “...What happened?” Sanji vaguely remembered a fight at school and… He’d been arguing with Zoro again, nothing major, just one of their usual tiffs, and then he’d bumped into Vivi and spent some time chatting with her, Zoro called it fawning and being a ‘goo-brained-moron-with-no-self-respect-tact-or-originality’ and he’d been responding to the insult with one of his own (a much better one, since, after all, ‘goo-brained-moron-with-no-self-respect-tact-or-originality’ had nothing on ‘single-celled-alge-headed-asshole-with-limited-vocabulary-zero-directional-abilities-and-social-skills-of-a-baboon’) when he’d felt a pain in his side and…

“Wait, did I  _ fall _ ?” He’d been almost to the top of the stairs when he’d had his lapse and that meant he’d probably fallen  _ in front of Vivi _ and probably a whole lot of other students and- Zeff was making the growling noise in his chest that usually meant he shouldn’t speak. The older man sat heavily, rubbing at his face.

“That’s only part of the problem. You did take a nasty fall and that was one hell of a concussion, but the bigger concern was the reason you’re still in this room.  _ WHY THE HELL WERE YOU NOT TELLING ME THAT YOUR WERE IN PAIN _ ?!”

Sanji flinched, stunned. He was used to Zeff yelling but that was just the chef’s way of communicating, this was serious anger; which was something he hadn’t experienced in a while and made him feel like the awkward kid he used to be. “I didn’t think-”

“ _ NO YOU DIDN’T THINK! YOU ABSOLUTE FOOL, YOUR APPENDIX BURST! THE DOCTORS SAID IF IT HADN’T BEEN FOR THAT FALL, WE MIGHT NOT HAVE CAUGHT IT IN TIME! _ ” Zeff deflated, looking worn out and older than his age. “Dammit, you nearly died. Why the hell didn’t you mention something sooner?”

Sanji felt shame welling in his chest and looked away; yes, he’d been experiencing these pains in his torso for a while and sometimes they nearly took his breath away but he’d never considered that… “I didn’t think--”

“Yes, that part is obvious!!” The man spat out and then regretted as his son cringed and looked down guiltily. “Dammit, alright Baby Eggplant.” He sat down next to the bed, ignoring the creaking of his bones. “Why didn’t you think it was important?” 

“I just… Didn’t want to be a bother.” Sanji shrugged and avoided eye contact. “Didn’t want to whine about it.”

“That’d be a first.” Zeff frowned. “What, you can bitch about nicknames and chores but not important stuff?”

“It’s just, I didn’t want to mention it because you’d tell me to get it checked out!” 

“And  _ how _ exactly is that a  _ bad thing _ ?”

“Because the bill’s going t--” Sanji’s eyes widened in horror and he clamped his mouth shut, looking away. Zeff felt the old dread seep into his bones and sighed, rubbing at his face. 

“...I thought we dealt with this.”

Sanji blinked back tears, slumping in the bed. Zeff shook his head and growled. “Dammit, Sanji, I chose to take your ass in, that makes me responsible for you. You’re sixteen; you are not responsible for me. If you need something, you have to tell me; hell, if you just want something then you tell me because you’re a teenager and it’s your job to be a handful!” He clenched his hands into fists. “Sanji. Listen. You don’t owe me a damn thing. Your life is much more important than money. Things like that have a way of working out so you have got to stop worrying people. I had to force the others from sticking around and crowding the damn waiting room.”

The blonde looked up and slowly smiled. “Really?”

“You’ve got those morons wrapped around your finger.” Zeff chuckled. “But I never said so. Let them act tough, eh? They were pretty worried about your ass, not as much as that green haired punk but...”

“Zoro?” Sanji blinked. “What about Zoro?”

Zeff cocked an eyebrow. “He was here when you were brought in. Hasn’t left since. I had to kick him out on his ass just to get him to go eat.”

The blonde flushed bright red and Zeff rolled his eyes before smacking the teen on the head gently. “That’s what friends do, Baby Eggplant. Stop acting so shocked.” He watched fondly as Sanji rubbed the top of his head, and thought back to his arrival…

_ Zeff stumbled into the lobby, breathing heavily as he boomed out in his heavy baritone, “WHO’S IN CHARGE HERE?!” and stormed towards the desk, barely hampered by his prosthetic leg. _

_ The poor, hassled looking nurse looked up wearily but plastered a pleasant look on her face; it was the look of a woman who was used to loud, angry people and knew how to completely control them. “May I help you sir?” _

_ The chef took a deep breath, managing to calm himself and stomp on one of his companion’s foot before he could do anything stupid; the man yelped and clasped at his sore appendage as Zeff growled, “I got a call from here saying my son was brought in earlier today.” _

_ “Name, please?” As she looked up Sanji’s information, she perked up. “Yes, door three down to the left. The doctor will be along soon and take you to him. Perhaps you could help us by dealing with the other one?” _

_ Zeff frowned at her words but followed her instructions and entered the smaller room, blinking in slight surprise before sighing. “Should’a known…” _

_ Zoro was hunched over in a plastic chair, tapping a foot impatiently on the hard floor and glaring a hole into the gleaming linoleum. Zeff snorted. “Shouldn’t you be in class, punk?” _

_ The teen leapt up and glared back. “I want to know what’s happening.” _

_ “You know more than me.” The chef growled. “What happened?” _

_ “He fell.” Zoro’s face was pained. “He fell down the stairs at school. I thought it was a concussion but then the doctors…” _

_ “Mr. Redlege?”  _

_ Zeff breathed out a sigh of relief at the sight of the surgeon that had worked on his leg years ago. Kureha was more friend than doctor and if she was taking care of things, that was a relief. “How is he?” _

_ “Long as we head off any infection and keep him off his feet he’ll live.” She chuckled. “Damn near close though.” _

_ “What the hell happened?” _

_ Kureha gave him a hard look. “Zeff, the brat’s appendix gave out. Rather spectacularly, I might add. Must have been building for months.” _

_ “Son of a bitch.” The man slumped into a seat, feeling dazed. “That idiot.” _

_ “You really didn’t know?” Kureha snorted, shaking her head. “No, never mind. Of course not. That’d be far too easy--”  _

_ She jerked away from the grip on her arm and stared down at the trembling teenager glaring up at her. “What about when he fell? How’s his head?” _

_ “Who’s this brat?”  _

_ “School friend.” Zeff managed a small smile at her unimpressed look.  _

_ Kureha smiled. “Didn’t know the kid had it in him.” _

_ “Well?!” Zoro’s patience was limited.  _

_ “Mild concussion. Nothing serious.”  _

_ Zoro’s entire body seemed to give out as he crashed to the floor in a heap. He blinked up at the two concerned adults and laughed brokenly. “I thought… Again. I thought it was happening again…”  _

“You might want to talk to that boy.” Zeff said slowly. “He took your fall hard.”

Sanji frowned. “Yeah,  _ right _ .”

“ _ For heaven’s sake _ .” The man stood stiffly and wrenched open the door to the room. “Alright punk, you’ve got an hour, then I’m calling your dad. You need to go home at some point.”

Sanji and Zoro stared at each other for a long moment, neither boy sure where to start. Finally Sanji made a face. “Tell me I didn’t make a total idiot of myself in front of Vivi?” 

“Shut up.” 

Ignoring the sharp tone, he continued on. “I can’t believe I did that in front of her, it’s so stupid, huh? Have you heard when I can get out of here? They’re making this all into such a big deal--” 

“ _ You almost died _ .” Zoro leaned over, snarling into his face. “Don’t you  _ dare _ joke about it!” 

“Dude, what’s your problem?!” Sanji was still rattled from all the attention he’d been receiving and his own temper was close to breaking. 

“...You _ fell. _ ” The other boy slumped against a chair, blinking rapidly. “Right in front of me. It was like it was happening again but right in front of me and I couldn’t do anything to stop it!”

“Like  _ what _ was happening?!” The blonde bristled to hide the burning he was starting to feel in his chest at Zoro’s obvious distress; he couldn’t do this, genuine emotion was not his thing. “Stop talking in circles!”

“When I was young-” Zoro scowled and rubbed his face. “Dammit, you cannot tell anyone else this story, got it?”

“Yeah, whatever.”

He smiled wanly and took a deep breath. “The reason we moved in next to you is because my dad thought I needed a change of scenery. That I needed a fresh start. The city we used to live in had this dojo; after mom died, dad thought I needed a way to vent my anger and since the whole swordplay thing seems to be genetic in our family he signed me up for kendo. I hate to say it, but he was right. I was out of control, just a little punk kid who missed his mom and couldn’t get along with anybody. That’s when I met Kuina.” The smile turned fond and Sanji shifted slightly at the unusual look. “I  _ hated  _ her at first. Her dad was my sensei and she’d been training since she was way younger than me and she was  _ good _ . Better than I was. By a lot. We didn’t get along because I was jealous of her skills and she was jealous that I’d been born a boy.”

“Why?” Sanji cut in.

“Because it’s harder for a girl.” He sighed. “People don’t take you as seriously, no matter how much you train most men will be physically stronger… She let all these insecurities weigh her down. Would get furious at anyone who treated her differently because of her sex.” He grinned widely. “She’d’ve  _ hated _ you.”

“Shut up.”

“It pissed me off. She thought she’d never be good enough, but she was a lot better than me. So I told her that I was going to beat her, not as a boy against a girl but as a swordsman vs. swordsman. We sparred 2,000 times.”

“You’re joking.” Sanji stared at him. “You mean you found someone who was as sword obsessed as you?”

“Haha, asshole. 2,000 times, and you know what? I never beat her. She had all this fear and insecurity that she hid behind a tough front and yet she beat me over and over again. ...Even when she started to hit puberty and her dad said things would get harder and harder for her, she still battled with me. Still trained and convinced me that one of us would one day be the best…”

Sanji had a bad feeling about the look on Zoro’s face as he continued, staring down at his hands. “I think I could have beat her one day. Or, who knows? She could have very well become the best. But she died. She was twelve. Fell down a flight of stairs in the dojo. I never got to say goodbye, she broke her neck on impact.”

Sanji felt his heart stop, staring at the other teenager; Zoro was hunched over, crying into his hands. “I felt like it was my fault. I asked her to duel me and she was going to get her gear and fell. I thought for so long that if I hadn’t--I never really got to tell her how much I looked up to her. One minute she was there and then she was gone and I never got to tell her. She never got to prove everyone wrong and I know she would have. So-so earlier, when I saw you fall, I just…”

He looked up at the blonde for a moment before lurching forward and Sanji flinched instinctively, bracing for whatever-

_ Oh. Oh… _

Sanji’s brain short-circuited; Zoro was hugging him.  _ Zoro _ was  _ HUGGING _ him. Hugging  _ HIM _ . Despite everything they’d been talking about it was still a…  _ bizarre _ thought. He nervously brought his arms around the broad chest lying pretty much on top of him and stared down at the head of green hair buried in his shoulder. Sanji didn’t really do hugs and Zoro REALLY didn’t do hugs, so what on earth was this? He was tempted to make some sort of quip and break the mood like usual, but after the story Zoro’d told he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Zoro swallowed thickly, hugging tighter before whispering, “I know I don’t show it but you mean a lot to me and I would be devastated if anything happened to you. You’re my best friend and I care about you so you have to stop taking dumbass risks and scaring me because I cannot lose another friend. I just can’t.”

The burning feeling in his chest gave way to a warm wave of something or other at these words and Sanji felt something in him well up; no one had ever said anything like that to him before and all he could think was that he didn’t deserve that sort of consideration but he was so thrilled to have it and-and…

“Back at you, dumbass.” He really wished his voice was steadier. “Like you don’t get into as much trouble as me. I like you too and don’t want you to get hurt either.” He was blinking back tears, what the hell? “Thanks… For worrying.”

“Yeah… Don’t mention it.” Zoro pulled back and glared at him. “I mean, seriously,  _ DON’T MENTION IT TO ANYONE _ . We’d never live this down.”

Sanji fell back against his pillow, laughing. It hurt his stitches but he didn’t care because it was worth it. Zoro slammed a pillow in his face and Sanji responded by throwing an empty jello container at him and all was normal between them again. 

Well, sort of. In a way, this was better.

**Author's Note:**

> I almost cried writing this, getting the words to paper was an exercise in patience. Featuring some more headcanons and lot's of Zeff because he's highly underrated.


End file.
